So, bout Shiloh. He went in for his dental work last Wed/Thurs (I don't remember which). They were supposed to remove his two bottom teeth, well... that didn't go so well. Both teeth broke off below the gumline and needless to say they couldn't get them out. Wonderful. So he was back home the next day, considerably more perky this time, but on metacam and not eating (other than his critical care mix). So, the doc said we can give it another shot, in several months, if I want, which ideally, we will be doing. Like with the top teeth, it's possible that the trauma to the teeth will cause them to reabsorb. That actually would be the best "solution" (for lack of a better word) in this situation. If the teeth reabsorb.... this whole surgery thing would be over and done with.
If the teeth don't re-absorb, we need to wait for them to grow out past the gumline enough that the surgery can be attempted again. This past surgery was $618, so it'd be at least that to try again. Hence, why reabsorption would be best. In the event that reabsorption doesn't happen and the second surgery doesn't work, not only would we the rescue be out another ton of cash, but we'd be stuck with monthly teeth trims for the rest of Shiloh's life. Now, we are talking about incisor trims, not back teeth. For prairie dogs, there is no feeling above the gums in their teeth, so there's no need for sedation for the trims (though, my vet would love to charge me ~$200 per month to put him under and trim). So likely, I would be sweet talking the local vet into trims at a more reasonable cost, where there's no sedation, so considerably less cost. But, regardless... he could live another 10 years, so even at $20/month, we're looking at another $2500 worth of trims, and that's on top of the the roughly ~$5000-6000 that this guy has cost at the vet already. And that's assuming he doesn't ever get sick and need any extra care.
I think, if people knew what Shiloh cost us to care for, vet wise, they wouldn't be so "omg I WANT him." Maybe some still would. Cause, like a dog, you grow attached and then you spend the money. And apparently not all prairie dogs have this many medical issues, just the one I end up with, of course, lol.
Anyway, Dr. Clarkson wanted to see Shiloh in a week, so we're scheduled to go back for his recheck on this upcoming Wed (in two days).
Well, I weighed all the chins the other day, and Winx (my first chin, like ever) dropped down to 485. He was in the 615ish range in mid-Feb, so while it hasn't been a fast descent, it's been a descent regardless. When I think about it, I don't recall the last time I added pellets to his bowl -- though he definitely is eating something, as there are still poos everywhere. So, when I called to schedule Shiloh's appointment, I set up Winx to be seen at the same time. I'm hoping it's something simple like teeth spurs. He isn't sneezing, no runny eyes, no bumps on his jaw, so I'm really hoping teeth spurs. That would be the simple solution. I will be hoping for it to be something simple, because he's really become bony feeling in the last 15 days, and he needs to be seen. He's 10, and he's a pet store chin. I'm hoping he'll do fine under the anesthesia (to trim the teeth, as that's what Midwest will go for first), as I would die if he didn't wake up. He acts fine, just feels really thin, and if I wasn't weighing as often as I do, I'm not sure it'd be this noticeble. Which is why I feel like it's important to weigh often (I do twice a month). Keep your fingers crossed for him, I want my boy to pull through.
On that note, I have that one wall-o-junk (also known as the pile-o-doom) in the basement where all the cages that I'm cleaning, all the items that need to be sorted, worked on, whatever, all end up against that wall. Well, I finally was starting to go through that the other day. Sanded off two hidey houses that would be alright for piggies, got some cages cleaned out, and went through my used-hidey-house pile. There were a few I pitched. I talked to Joann (one of my volunteers from way back when) a week or two ago, and we had a long discussion about hanging onto things that we don't need, and about not being able to let go. Well, apparently that was a helpful discussion, because my pile of carriers that I was keeping I was able to reduce down to less (and I may still get rid of one more), I've decided that I'm selling all my glass aquariums (10 & 5 gallons) with the exception of the 10 gallon that Rex (rescue pac man frog) is currently residing in. If anyone's interested, the 10 gallons will be $5 each with lid and the 5 gallon will be $3 with lid. I don't know if they hold water, as most of them have been used exclusively for small animals, though I do believe the 5 gallon holds water, as Rex lived in it for awhile and we never had any floods in the kitchen. We will be keeping the two 20g long tanks that we have (mine and my mom's), for if we need, but there's no real need to hang onto all the others. We also have some of those plastic critter keepers that there is also no reason to hang onto, so those will be going as well. Going back to the hidey houses, I actually pitched a few that were beyond saving. Ones that wouldn't stand up because of chew patterns, ones that weren't worth the effort required to clean off, and so on and so forth.
I went through more of the pile, and several things staying that I need to work with are the two saucers and the chin spin that I removed from the QC that's for sale. Oh and I had a donated chin-spin-look-alike that I put in the critter nation. I put it in the bottom -- if Winx gets better, I'll open up the cage so he can get down there and run on it. He always enjoyed his wheel, when he had one.
That wheel wasn't bad to put up, as I just needed to remove one shelf, but the others are going to take some actual cage modifications to get them in the current cages. So that's for another day. Though I did get a wooden tunnel put up in Winx's cage and in one of the other cages as well. I want to say I maybe have 1-2 more tunnels to put up somewhere. I need to get on the stick with this stuff, as it sits and sits and sits, and if I'm not going to use it, I might as well sell it. I intend to put it up, but sometimes I feel like I need a fire lit under my ass to get stuff done to the actual rescue cages, as I'm usually so busy with adoptions and filling orders that the current cages I have don't get as much attention in terms of modifications. Toys stay filled, of course.
So, when I get around to it, I will have more cages to put up on the site. Mostly small ones, like hamster and guinea pig ones, and then I'm debating selling one of the two cages we use for the trial run, as I just don't need two 99% of the time. And I need to go through my wood pile as well. Eventually it will all get done. I've decided that I need to split up my days -- like say, one day working just on paperwork (when it piles up), or a day just on orders or a day just on sorting through my work table... because what invariably happens is I try to work on orders, and sort out the boxes on the work table, and clean cages, and so on... all on the same day, and I end up getting not all that much done. But when I sit down and focus and say today I'm only doing orders, then I'll crank out a few. So, that's how it's going to be.
Few "new" things at the rescue. I bought a clock for the rescue. I know, you're all like "and why is this news?" but I tell you, anyone who has spent time here cleaning or volunteering knows how quickly you can lose track of time, especially when there's no clock to go by. I routinely go down to the rescue in the late afternoon, feel like a few hours have passed, pull out my phone, and learn it's like 3 am. Ah, oops? Not unheard of in the least. So, I bought this clock that basically looks like a block of wood, but you snap your fingers or tap the clock and it shows you the time/date/temp in LEDs. Mine is a black block with blue led's. Like this:
Second new thing -- I bought a "paid" stamp. Ok, ok, I know, but when you run a rescue where you're not getting paid for anything, you gotta be happy over the little insignificant things. It looks like this:
I actually considered this multi-purpose stamp that had like "received," "paid," "shipped" (and like 7 other words that I can't remember now) and then the blocks where you could change the date and year and all that. And in a perfect world with time to spare, that kind of thing would be perfect. Cause I could stamp the date I received the order, "received x/xx/xxxx" and then stamp the date I was paid, "paid x/xx/xxxx" and then stamp the date I shipped, "shipped x/xx/xxxx".... and then it dawned on me... I barely have the time to write "paid" on my orders. Much less pulling out the stamp, changing the date every time, changing the word that went along with the date every time... ah, no. In a perfect world where I had nothing better to do, I really liked it. But in reality, with the time crunch being what it is.... it was a luxury I didn't need to mess with (though it was cheaper than my "paid" stamp, go figure).
I do like my paid stamp though. I had someone put in an order a few days ago that I just got around to writing out on an invoice today, and I got to stamp my paid stamp, and it looks so nice! Love it.
Well, I think that's it for now. Not a ton has gone on at the rescue lately... some rat adoptions. Had two of the 10 boys adopted out, they went to a lady who had a critter nation on order (but a cage ready in the meantime), and then had another person come and adopt our two black hooded boys. Still have the four black hooded girls, the blue girl (Amy), and 8 of the agouti hooded/agouti split capped boys. And a million guinea pigs. Just listed four of them today. Will be listing Critter tomorrow, when I get some pics of her, and then no one else is ready to go until the end of the month. Oh! And Aubrey and her female baby will be going home with a family that is getting them one of our used feisty ferret cages with wooden shelves and a ton of other goodies. They'll be leaving around the first week of the month, depending on how the baby progresses between now and then. Oh and Ponyo and Munchie went home a few days go.
Ok, and I really do think that's it for updates, despite how long it's been since my last one. I need to work on staying more up to date on this. For now, toodles.
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